


With Friends Like These

by TinyBat



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-12
Updated: 2014-01-28
Packaged: 2018-01-08 11:13:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1131972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinyBat/pseuds/TinyBat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grant's plans for the weekend are up-ended when a joint "suggestion" from Coulson and Commander Hill have him going back to Boston for his high school reunion. The only upside is that he won't be going alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Set Up

He was just settling down for a very well deserved nap, when his phone went off. Grant's whole body hurt, and the act of rolling over to reach his phone sent pain shooting up his side, and he fired off a series of curses as he grabbed the device off of his nightstand. His bruises had bruises, and that thing they'd been called in to subdue had gotten in a good swipe with it's tusks before the bomb had stunned it. He looked at his screen, and he felt his stomach drop.

My Office. Now. -Coulson

"Perfect." He winced, swinging his legs off of the bed and pushed himself up stiffly. He limped out into the hallway and up the spiral staircase, passing his teammates who were engrossed in what looked like a very close game of Mario Kart. Coulson was sitting behind his desk, looking at his desktop, and he was grinning. Grant's instincts were still good, a bit battered, but intact and a happy Coulson wasn't going to bode well. 

"Sir?" Grant asked, prompting the agent to look up from the screen. "Oh good, you can stand. I have a message from Commander Hill. She wants to know if you were planning to attend your high school reunion."

Shit, he knows. Grant thought, folding his arms and ignoring the screaming pain in his ribs. He'd gotten the email on his civilian account a month ago, and he'd dismissed it without a second thought. Even if work didn't allow him to be on a separate continent, he'd rather be kidnapped and tortured then even consider going. High school had been one series of humiliations after another. Nobody was going to stick their neck out for the undersized, and over weight kid they knew was too much of a wuss to fight back when taking a beating.

"Commander Hill, sir? Doesn't she have more important things to be doing?" It was a fair question, recalling her remarks on his evaluation prior to joining the team, he felt a twinge of annoyance. Coulson's smiled stayed fixed, and he gestured for Grant to sit in one of the blessedly well padded chairs. "She's the one keeping Fury off our backs, and she's been reviewing our paperwork. Commander Hill thinks it might benefit you to get out into an environment like the reunion to see if you've improved beyond porcupine." Grant glowered at the comment, easing himself into the chair, exhaling heavily. He must have cracked a rib or two, he'd have to have Simmons take a look at it. He might as well have a futon installed in the lab given how often he'd needed to go in for attention lately.

"I'm certain I have, and if it's all the same to you i'd really rather have a drunk hockey player play dentist on me with a pair of rusty pliers than go anywhere near the Boston Harbor Hotel this weekend." Honesty was the best policy here because it was becoming increasingly apparent that Coulson wasn't going to let this slide. 

"It hasn't gone unnoticed that you've been doing much better especially with the team, but I do think it'll be good for you. If only to get closure, and don't lie to me and say that you don't need it." The statement had been simple, but it nailed Grant between the eyes. The Asgardian Staff hadn't just stirred up only his worst memory, but all of the memories he'd worked so hard to bury. Mocking laughter, glares across hallways, and always a sense of hopelessness he thought he'd drown in. Going back and seeing the people who didn't lift a finger to help he and his brother safely navigate their adolescence was the least pleasant idea he'd heard from anyone in months.

"How about I just say no and we leave it at that. Give Hill the message for me, i'm going to go get an ice pack." Forcing himself up out of the chair, Grant limped out, ignoring the pad of footsteps behind him. He was going to get his ice pack, as many painkillers as Simmons was willing to give him, and then he was going to go to sleep and forget the entirety of this conversation. "It's themed. I read the email. How can you resist that?" Coulson asked, following Grant down the stairs and into the lounge. "Just watch me." Grant snarled, his tone attracting the attention of Fitz, Skye, and Simmons.

"What's themed?" Skye asked, her eyes darting curiously over to Coulson, giving him her best puppy dog expression. The man was a sucker for it, and it made Grant roll his eyes hard enough to pull something. "Oh good, you three can help me with this. Grant's high school reunion is James Bond themed and this weekend and he refuses to go. That of course means he's going to go, get dressed to the nines, and he needs a date."

Grant itched to turn and start yelling but being an asshole about it was just going to make this much worse than it already was, even if it didn't feel possible at the moment. "You could take Fitz, he could totally be a Bond Girl." Skye suggested, trying to stifle her giggling in the sleeve of her sweater. Fitz glared at her, the expression of horror on his face was a close match for the one on Grant's own. "No. That's strictly when a cover is required." Skye's giggling was no longer hidden now, she was leaning into Simmons' shoulder, her arms wrapped around her stomach. Grant's undercover identities were varied, and covers were covers, it never bothered him but he never enjoyed it either.

"You could take Skye. She could make a spectacle of herself and totally take the attention off of you." Fitz said, still looking disgusted. His attraction to Skye was taking a back seat to his annoyance at the moment apparently. Skye's head shot up, her face paling. "Ew! No! First, gross, second, that's like cradle robbery! All of the embarrassing high school pictures in the world wouldn't be worth being my S.O.'s date." She elbowed Fitz in the side, and he fell sideways off of the couch.

"Gee, thanks Skye. I really appreciate how clear you are on my complete lack of appeal. I'm also not that old, i'm 28. If I were 30 you could start with the old jokes." This was a nightmare, if they were in on it now he'd have to go. The only one who hadn't said anything yet was Simmons, and he prayed to the universe that she'd side with him. They had developed an understanding beyond that of colleagues and he'd be lying if he said that watching her work, and spending time in her company wasn't his favorite way to deal with the long hours of nothing up in the air.

"I'll go. It feels like ages since we've done anything even remotely recreational off the Bus, and if it's as bad as you're making it out to be, we can leave and find a bar to hole up in. Besides, getting dressed up will be fun " Simmons was looking right up at him, smiling gently and it was the smile she only had for him. She said it like it was the simplest thing in the world, and it made him believe that maybe it could be just that. "I-you-really? You'd do that for me?" he asked, making his way down the rest of the stairs to stand by her end of the couch. The biochemist nodded, brushing a few stray hairs out of her eyes, still smiling at him. "Absolutely. You did jump out of a plane for me. I think handling a few deteriorating mean girls, and meat heads looking to re-live their former glory should be easy enough." Her tone was absolutely certain, and it was the one she used when she was about to do some serious science to something lying dead on one of her tables. The whole thing wouldn't be a total disaster after all.

"It's settled then, Ward gets to go show up everyone who laughed at him, and Simmons gets to be his significantly better half for the evening." Coulson said, looking over at the two of them. He looked entirely too pleased, and it made Grant suspicious. Maybe his fondness for Simmons hadn't been quite as discreet as he thought.


	2. Getting To Know You

Nervous was a good word for how Grant was currently feeling, since he couldn't find one more descriptive to put to the crushing anxiety eating away at him in any of the six languages he was fluent in. Grant was nervous, Simmons had volunteered to go to the reunion as his date, or as his friend from work, they hadn't really talked about logistics yet. 

Fitz and Skye were calling this Simmons' first foray into undercover work since by their logic pretending to be Ward's girlfriend would be next to impossible, both because she was a terrible liar, and because they couldn't imagine anyone actually wanting to date him. She'd glared at both of them and had briefly rested a hand on his arm when he felt himself getting riled by their teasing, it made him bite his tongue and he could have sworn he'd stopped breathing for a moment at the brief feeling of pressure. She'd come to his defense pretty spectacularly saying she'd be a wonderful escort, but her phrasing had caused Fitz to spit soda all over the couch and had Skye doubled over laughing raucously at the statement and the amount of conviction behind it. Realizing her slip she immediately began to blush and Grant had stepped in, promising that they wouldn't be there all night but just long enough to satisfy Hill and Coulson's requirements of him. Skye somehow managed to laugh harder at that, asking just what they'd do with the rest of the night, while Fitz hurriedly cleaned up the mess he'd made. Drinking, reading, and repressing appeared to be acceptable answers from Grant and Simmons had replied with drinking, soaking her feet, and watching a documentary she hadn't seen yet.

Apparently she already had a dress and shoes picked out, excited to get the chance to wear both since they weren't practical in their work environment. He needed a moment to contemplate her in a dress suitable for a woman in a Bond film, luckily he'd been snapped out of his reverie by Skye's squeal of joy and the sight of her bodily dragging the biochemist down the hall to her room so she could approve of the dress. Fitz had caught his expression and it took a few seconds to form the words he'd said. Grant respected Fitz like he respected all of his friends and co-workers, but the threat he'd sworn to make good on should anything unseemly occur made the specialist fear more than a little for his personal safety. 

Everyone had been asleep for hours but the seriousness of Fitz' threat had stayed in the back of his mind, and as he lay awake letting nerves chew a hole in his common sense, he found himself in need of a distraction. Recalling that 4 in the morning was usually the best time to find terrible movies on cable, he pushed himself out of bed, swearing as the twinges and aches in his still injured side made themselves known again. Quietly leaving his room, he heard shuffling and clattering come from the kitchen, curious as to who else would be up at this hour, he turned the corner to find Simmons making what appeared to be pancakes and coffee. Her feet were clad in rabbit slippers, stained blue with something unknowable and most likely toxic, and her pajamas consisted of a t-shirt Grant suspected might be his since he'd been less than diligent about folding all of his stuff in the laundry room, and a pair of flannel pants with tiny Captain America shields on them. She hadn't heard him approach so he took the opportunity to surprise her, her shocked expression was one of his favorites. 

"Nice slippers, but I don't think blue rabbits actually occur in nature." he said, leaning on his good side against the refrigerator. She jumped, and spun around looking like he'd just taken five years off her life. "It's not polite to sneak up on people with hot liquids, and it's food coloring. There was a cupcake mishap. I didn't think anyone else was up. Did I wake you?" She asked, looking concerned and more than a little embarrassed, shifting so that her slippers were less visible. "No, I think I woke myself up, I either woke myself up or I was in that place between awake and asleep where I could feel my side hurting just enough to give thought to suffocating myself." he lied, not wanting to put any more attention on himself as speculation was becoming increasingly dangerous lately. Flat out telling Simmons that the prospect of spending two days with just her was close to scaring him to death didn’t seem like the best way to start off the morning.

"Well attempting to stun an alien rhinoceros beast with the Night Night rifle at close range wasn't your brightest idea. Not that it wasn't appreciated but you're making a serious dent in my medication supply." Jemma said, smiling softly, pouring a cup of coffee and handing it over to him. Black with two sugars and perfect for the hour. The fact that she knew how he took his coffee depending on the time of day made something in his stomach twist and he felt like a very lucky 14 year old. "Fine, next time I try to save your life, i'll hold back a little and see how much you like it. And in my defense it worked, just not soon enough." Grant shot back, smiling and sipping his coffee. Seeing that he was clearly hurting, Jemma pulled him into the lounge and they sat down. "So, how are we approaching this weekend? We both know I can't lie so it's best I learn the important stuff now and go from there." she asked, settling herself on the opposite end of the couch she'd all but dropped him onto. 

"Well, we'll start with calling you a friend from work which is true if anyone asks. Could you handle saying we're government, since it's a stretch and not an actual lie? It holds with me basically falling off the radar after graduation and you not being American." Grant asked, shifting to lean his bruised side against a pillow and propping his feet on the coffee table. "I could. Onto facts, you graduated high school in 2004, what else do I need to know about the mysterious Agent Grant Ward?" she inquired, pulling a small notepad out of the drawer in the side table, they used it to keep score and most of the pages were marked with her victories. "Well, right after I got my diploma I got up the courage to break the captain of the football team's nose and enlisted in the army a week later. I wasn't popular, my younger brother and grandmother aside, there weren't many people I liked or that liked me much. Short, overweight, and too nice for my own good wasn't going to get me elected homecoming king." Grant said, not quite willing to look at Jemma's expression. It had shifted from open curiosity to confusion. He'd never really gone into how bad things had been to anyone but Skye. It was in his file but anyone who'd read it had the good sense never to bring it up. 

"I can't say i'm having an easy time of picturing that. Obviously you've changed since then. What made you so eager to leave?" Jemma asked, putting the notepad aside unused and picking up a pillow, hugging it to her chest. "My older brother. The Suffolk County court system finally decided they'd had enough of him after his second felony assault charge, since he was an adult they gave him the maximum sentence and I could leave home knowing that he wouldn't be a problem anymore." he replied, grimacing at the memory of Dan being hauled off into the back of a cop car, screaming and cursing. It had hurt, because he was family, but at 16 Grant could only manage the anger at first. Jemma made as though she was going to lean forward and touch him, but something stopped her. 

"The first charge was because our youngest brother Tommy drowned, and Dan had been the one to drop him in the well. I went in after him and I pulled him out then called for help but I didn't know what else to do. The ambulance got there in time to revive him but it got Dan shipped off to a juvenile correctional facility. He liked knowing we were afraid of him and I couldn't stand up to him all the time. I learned, but nobody else in town cared enough to help us out and my grandmother had no clue how to make things easier." Grant swallowed, feeling the helplessness and fear rise up in his chest remembering his grandmother's face as they drove to the hospital to sit by Tommy's side until he woke up. Raising three boys was a burden; raising one with a good heart, a coward, and a monster wore her down faster than aging ever could. She'd lost her son and his wife to a car accident and taken in their boys as her own, but she'd been at a loss to understand how to help them work through their grief.

"And the second?" Jemma whispered, the color now gone from her face. She wanted to know, and given what Grant remembered about the people they were going to see, all of the unpleasant details were going to be dredged up again. Blindsiding someone who didn't know how to lie was going to make the evening even more of a disaster. "Tommy had enough of being the victim, and Dan wanted to put him in his place. I got home in time to distract him and Tommy's girlfriend called the police. Being 21 got him tried as an adult and collapsing your brother's lung doesn't get you sympathy from the jury. Last I heard, he'd been released but inside a week he'd been put away again for possession and armed robbery." 

"So, you've always been a hero. Can't say i'm surprised. Did SHIELD steal you from the special forces?" Jemma said, she sounded like she was forcing herself to speak. Sometimes her heart made Grant wonder why she'd ever join an organization like SHIELD. "Steal? No, they recruited me after my second tour in Afghanistan. I had a lot of stuff I needed to work out and having the chance to help people felt like something I needed to do since Tom was old enough to handle himself. Operations speeds you through depending on what your military record looks like and I had a real hard-ass S.O. so I made field agent pretty quickly." The sick feeling in his stomach was fading, but his chest burned and it was only when Jemma began to laugh at him that he could breathe again. 

"And you call me an overachiever! Big, bad Grant Ward is the Ops equivalent of a nerd. I knew I liked you for a reason, you're a perfectionist!" she said, her shoulders shaking, and her eyes sparkling as she looked at him. "Laugh all you want, i'm still the big bad agent who jumped out of a plane to save your life, Simmons." It was less difficult to talk now, but he didn't want her to bring anything too personal up. "My favorite color is blue, my favorite movie is Raiders of the Lost Ark, and my first kiss was my neighbor Grace, we were 6. She punched me in the face afterward because she didn't want to kiss boys who weren't hockey fans. Any other questions?" Grant asked, finishing the rest of his coffee and taking in the sight of Jemma, happy and smiling because of him. 

"Yes actually? Will Grace be there? I want to meet the woman who thought Grant Ward wasn't desirable, even as a child." Jemma asked, uncurling herself from the ball she'd been in and placing her feet in his lap, nudging him in his good side with her ridiculous slippers. "Grace, no. Seeing as she's now Tom's wife and they're on vacation in Spain. As for women who didn't think I was worth any oxygen, that'll be every woman there. You're going to have the honor of being the only person there who actually likes me, unless that's the one thing you can actually lie about." 

"You caught me, i'm lying. You're grouchy, judgmental, stiff, unpleasant, and a complete dolt. I'm only going just to humiliate you in front of 200 drunk people lacking in morals." Jemma said, completely deadpan. "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't like you, and the absolutely ridiculous shoes Skye is forcing me to wear to in order to play your personal Bond Girl convincingly should prove just how pleasant I find your company. You're going to need to carry me before the night's over, I swear." She said, her hands twisting the hem of her t-shirt. Skye would have input in Jemma's outfit choice, and while Skye was flighty she wasn't a fool and Grant felt his stomach plummet at the idea of just what she'd found for Jemma to wear. Undoubtedly it'd be less conservative than what the biochemist had picked and the base, shallow, and unmistakably male part of his brain immediately took a nose dive into the gutter at the prospect. He looked at the bunny slipper clad feet in his lap and smiled, the ears were bright blue and a little tattered but he petted them all the same. Jemma didn't look like she minded at all, since she'd been the one to present them to him in such close quarters. He'd have to ask about the cupcake mishap at some point, but not right now.

"I'm sure I can manage, and you'll make a fantastic Bond Girl, definitely the classiest there. Also, is that my shirt? I know i'm not always good about moving my stuff but i'd like to keep the shirts I own that aren't covered in my or someone else's blood." he asked, watching her fingers tug at the slightly worn hem of the fabric. "Probably, but it ended up in my dry stuff so I figured i'd packed it and forgotten about it. I can wash it and give it back if you want. Only if you promise to stop bleeding everywhere though, it's careless of you." Jemma said, her cheeks stained a gorgeous shade of pink. Had he not been in a distracting amount of pain, and in possession of less sense, he'd lean over and kiss her, just to see how red he could make her. The thought of kissing her had occupied more space in his head than he cared to admit, and it had ended his relationship with May. Not on bad terms since she'd been smiling when she told him to come back when he wasn't thinking of someone else, but they were over nonetheless. He'd taken it as May's blessing of his feelings, as far as she'd give a blessing to anything regarding actual emotion. 

"You can keep it since I don't think you're going to bleed on it. I hope. What about you, Simmons? Do I get to learn about the biochemist prodigy who cheats at Scrabble?" He asked, fully expecting her heel when it dug into the flesh under his ribcage. "I do not and I resent the accusation. It's not my fault seven wooden tiles render you completely incapable of forming a fully realized thought." she scoffed, waving her hand in a demonstration of dismissal. "Fully realized thoughts? Tell me just how the hell you can in good conscience say that Syzygy is a word Scrabble allows, then tell me I don't think clearly." Grant grabbed one of the unfortunate slippers and pulled it off of her foot. She was wearing bright purple socks with targets on them, and he took the opportunity to see if the targets were an indicator of where she was ticklish. Nobody else was awake yet and he assured himself that his actions here were harmless, even if touching her boosted his heart rate more effectively than live gunfire.

"It's the alignment of 3 planets, and 21 points. Don't be bitter, wait what are you do-" her words were cut off by shrieks of laughter and she took a swipe at him with the pillow she'd been holding. "Stop it! You complete barbarian Ward. Cut it out!" She pleaded, a smile threatening to cleave her face in half, and laughter making her words come in short bursts. "Nope, not until you admit that you cheated. That was a ridiculous loss, we were tied and i'm never forgiving you for it." She managed to wrest her foot from his grasp and continued attacking him with the pillow, careful to avoid his injured ribs. Disabling her would be about as easy as breathing but something about being around Jemma made everything better and it wasn't something he wanted to give up when she was so willingly in the moment with him. It was selfish but stealing moments with her made going out and doing his job easier to deal with. 

The bang of the couch hitting the wall as the sudden shift in weight tipped the piece of furniture had roused Coulson. He came down, looking tired but not too upset. The smile on his face as he caught the biochemist in Grant's lap, with Grant keeping the pillow just out of her reach was one Grant knew would be burnt in his memory forever. He'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and there'd be discipline to come. "Do you mind telling me why two of my best and brightest are wrestling like children, and why there's a rabid stuffed animal on the coffee table?" Coulson asked, leaning against the railing. Jemma scrambled out of Grant's arms and he let her go reluctantly but quickly enough to avoid arousing suspicion. "Sorry sir, I was defending my honor. He accused me of cheating at Scrabble." Jemma said, her face stoic and businesslike. 

"You were playing Scrabble at quarter of five in the morning?" was the next question, and Grant fielded it to keep the heat off of Simmons who looked less stoic now and adorably flustered. "I couldn't sleep and she was already here. We were discussing how best to approach this weekend. Once I gave her the relevant information, I felt it only fair to see if she'd tell me about herself. I may have accused her of cheating while doing so, because Syzygy isn't a word. I don't care what anyone else says. It's complete crap and that's her slipper. I'm thinking of putting them out of their misery." The tail end of the statement earned him a shot in the head with the pillow that knocked him sideways and when he recovered, Jemma was putting the slipper in question back on her foot, glaring at him with just a hint of amusement in her eyes. "You aren't touching my slippers. We're sorry if we woke you, sir. Since our end is covered, what will the rest of you be doing while we're at the reunion?" Jemma asked, her slippers now secure she started fixing her hair which had been mussed in the midst of the fray.

"We will be staying in a separate hotel. I've called ahead and you'll be staying in a two bedroom suite with a living room and kitchen joining the two. I've been led to believe there are balconies, a view, and excellent room service. As for drowning your trauma, i'm sure Grant can remember a few bars in the area." The older man looked far too pleased with himself and Grant wasn't sure now if he'd be disciplined later on or given "The Talk" ending with the threat of Barrow, Alaska again. "If I have my way, we'll only be there long enough to get you and Hill off my back. Not sure the hotel room is necessary, but it's appreciated." Grant said, pointedly avoiding looking at Jemma, she looked thrilled and wondering about the source of her enthusiasm was going to send him spiraling, he could just tell. "You'll be there all night then, and the room is absolutely necessary. No arguments. It's booked for two nights, whether or not you opt to use it for both is up to you but i'm not cheating Simmons out of a proper place to get ready. Also, I think a hot bubble bath might do you some good, Ward. Maybe scented oils to mellow you out a little." 

Again, the smile sent an electric line of fear up Grant's spine, Coulson only seemed to care about protocol where May was concerned. "I've also taken the liberty of getting you a proper suit, as I don't think you own any that haven't seen gunfire. I'm a Bond fan, this is just as much about making me happy as it is about you being sociable and pleasant." Jemma raised her hand hearing this and Coulson nodded, giving her the go ahead. "I've been catching up on my Bond, I hope by proper suit you mean english cut. The Daniel Craig Bond has meticulously tailored suits, and they're always english cut.' She asked, looking proud of her research. "Actually, I opted for italian, slimmer fit and better for taller men. Love the dress by the way, Simmons. Ward will be the luckiest man in the room." Coulson said nonchalantly. Jemma grumbled under her breath about a plane full of bloody spies and Coulson laughed. "No need to be angry. Skye showed me a photo. Now before I go try to pretend you didn't wake me from a dead sleep, one last thing. Do you find Agent Ward to be boyfriend material? We know Fitz can handle a cover story without much issue but I think this is probably the easiest trial run you're liable to have, and it doesn't look like much of a stretch from where i'm standing." 

_Oh, shit._ was the thought bouncing around in Grant's skull when he heard those words. Any sense of ease he felt about approaching this on a platonic level was gone now. He wouldn't be able to keep a polite distance from her now, and the idea was both amazing and absolutely terrifying. Combat and Espionage Specialist Agent Grant Ward wasn't just going to be dead by Sunday, he'd be buried too.


End file.
